Vacuum cleaner having main body detachably mounted in frame

ABSTRACT

A vacuum cleaner is disclosed that includes a main body having a dust collector and a vacuum motor; a cleaner frame for detachably mounting the main body; a main brush assembly connected to a lower end of the cleaner frame; and a flexible hose and auxiliary brush assembly connected to the main body, wherein the main body is further provided with a traveling wheel and a support member, whereby the main body can be moved conveniently by using the traveling wheel and the support member and cleaning operation also can be performed by sucking external air through the auxiliary brush assembly at a state of the main body standing in the case that the main body of the vacuum cleaner is detached from the cleaner frame.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/814,743, filed Jun. 19, 2006 and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 2006-69387, filed on Jul. 21, 2006, the entire contents of both which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to a vacuum cleaner capable of mounting a main body thereof in a frame thereof, thereby being used as an up-right type cleaner as well as detaching the main body from the frame, whereby the main body being used alone as a canister type cleaner.

2. Description of the Related Art

In an up-right type vacuum cleaner, it is well known that a main body thereof can be detached from a cleaner frame so as to carry and use only the main body for cleaning.

As disclosed in Korean patent No. 474,083 by the present applicant, in a conventional vacuum cleaner, for cleaning a limited space, such as stairs or a curtain, where a large sized main brush assembly coupled to a lower end of a cleaner frame can not approach, a user holds an extending pipe connected to a main body of the vacuum cleaner to operate an auxiliary brush assembly by one hand while he/she grips a hand grip part of the heavy main body to carry the main body by the other hand. Therefore, it is inconvenient to clean while carrying the heavy main body, and it is hard to clean conveniently at a state of standing the main body on a floor as the height of the main body is low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present disclosure is to address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a vacuum cleaner that it is convenient for a user to carry and use a main body thereof for cleaning in a case of the main body being detached from a cleaner frame.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a vacuum cleaner including a main body of the vacuum cleaner provided with a dust collector and a vacuum motor; a cleaner frame in which the main body is detachably mounted; a main brush assembly connected to a lower end of the cleaner frame; and a flexible hose and an auxiliary brush assembly connected to the main body, wherein the main body is further provided with a traveling wheel and a support member, and wherein cleaning operation can be performed by sucking external air into the main brush assembly in the case that the main body is mounted into the cleaner frame, and the main body can be moved conveniently by using the traveling wheel and the support member and the cleaning operation also can be performed by sucking external air through the auxiliary brush assembly at a state of the main body standing in the case that the main body of the vacuum cleaner is detached from the cleaner frame.

Preferably, the main body of the vacuum cleaner further includes a length adjustable telescopic handle.

Further, at least two of the traveling wheels are installed at a lower end of the main body and the support member may be provided with at least one wheel so that a user can pull to move the main body.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the cleaner frame includes a base plate for fixing a lower end of the main body and a locking member for locking a side surface of the main body, and the base plate is formed with a wheel insert groove in which the wheel is inserted and a recess groove in which the support member is inserted.

In the above disclosed vacuum cleaner, as a user does not need to carry the heavy main body of the vacuum cleaner but is capable of pulling it by using the traveling wheels for cleaning, it is convenient to move the main body.

Further, as the length of the handle of the main body is adjustable to agree with user's stature, there is no need for the user to bend forward his/her body and thus it is convenient to use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vacuum cleaner in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a main body of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state of using the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a main body of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The matters defined in the description such as a detailed construction and elements are provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the exemplary embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

Hereinafter, certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing figures.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 are figures related to a first embodiment of a vacuum cleaner according to the present disclosure, where FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main body detached from a cleaner frame, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the main body, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the use of the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vacuum cleaner 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a main body 20, a cleaner frame 10, a main brush assembly 13, a flexible hose 49, an extending pipe 30, and an auxiliary brush assembly 31. The main body 20 can be mounted detachably to cleaner frame 10.

The main body 20 is provided with a dust collector 21, a motor chamber 25 installed with a suction motor (not shown), a telescopic handle 28, traveling wheels 26a and 26b, and a support member 27. The dust collector 21 is configured with a cyclone chamber 22 and a dust canister 23, with the dust canister 23 being mounted detachably to the main body 20. The motor chamber 25 is provided at a lower end of the dust canister 23 and has a suction motor (not shown) therein, and the suction motor transfers suction power through the dust collector 21 to the main brush assembly 13 or the auxiliary brush assembly 31.

The telescopic handle 28 is installed on a top of a frame 42 of the main body, and length thereof is adjustable in an up/down direction so that a user can adjust the height of the telescopic handle 28 to agree with his or her stature (see FIG. 3). Traveling wheels 26 a and 26 b help moving of the main body 20 and each one thereof is installed at both sides of a lower end of the frame 42 of the main body 20 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The support member 27 is projected downward with a slight slope from a lower end of the motor chamber 25, so that the main body 20 is stood upright and does not fall down in the case of the main body 20 being stood on a floor. Thus, a user may move the main body 20 by slightly inclining it toward a side where the traveling wheels 26 a and 26 b exist after extending the telescopic handle 28 to agree with his/her stature, and in a place to be cleaned the user may clean there by holding the extending pipe 30 after standing up the main body 20 to make the support member 27 of the main body to come in contact with a floor so as to prevent the main body 20 from moving.

The cleaner frame 10, as shown in FIG. 1, is formed with a mounting space 11 in which the main body 20 is removably mounted. The cleaner frame 10 is configured with a hand grip 15, a base plate 19, and two columns 8 and 9. At a lower end of the two columns 8 and 9 are mounted, respectively, main wheels 18. The hand grip 15 is integrally configured on an upper portion of the two columns 8 and 9, and the two columns 8 and 9 are separated from each other at a predetermined space thereby the mounting space 11 for mounting the main body 20 therebetween. The base plate 19 is configured to support a lower surface of the main body 20 and is provided integrally in a lower portion of the mounting space 11, i.e. between the two columns 8 and 9 at a lower portion where the two columns terminate.

In the base plate 19 there are formed, respectively, a recess groove 17 in which the support member 27 is inserted and two wheel inserting grooves 16 a and 16 b in which the traveling wheels 26 a and 26 b are inserted. Main body 20 includes an inlet 43 (see FIG. 1) of an air passage, which delivers external air flowing through the main brush assembly 13 to the main body 20 and the inlet is in tight contact with an air inlet 45 (see FIG. 2) formed at a lower surface of the main body 20. At an inside surface of the two columns 8 and 9 are installed, respectively, two locking members 47. Thus, once the main body 20 of the vacuum cleaner 1 is mounted into the mounting space 11, the main body 20 is not easily separated from the cleaner frame 10 due to the locking members 47.

The main brush assembly 13 is connected to the base plate 19 of the cleaner frame 10. The main brush assembly 13 comes in contact with a surface to be cleaned and external air flows through the main brush assembly 13 into the main body 20.

Referring to FIG. 1, the flexible hose 49 is connected to a rear surface of the main body 20 and communicates with the dust collector 21. In addition, the flexible hose 49 is connected to the auxiliary brush assembly 31 through the extending pipe 30. Thus, external air flows in the auxiliary brush assembly 31, through the extending hose 30, and through the flexible hose 49 into the dust collector 21.

A cleaning operation by using the vacuum cleaner 1 in accordance with the above embodiment will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.

In FIG. 1, vacuum cleaner 1 can be used as an up-right type cleaner by inserting the main body 20 into the mounting space 11 so that the lower surface of the main body 20 is in contact with the base plate 19 of the cleaner frame 10 and both sides of the main body frame 42 are locked by the locking members 47. By gripping the hand grip 15 and inclining the cleaner frame 10 and the main body 20 rearward, the main brush assembly 13 and the air passage of the main body 20 are communicated with each other and external air flows through the main brush assembly 13 into the main body 20 so that dust is collected. Using the vacuum cleaner 1 of the present disclosure as an up-right type cleaner by mounting the main body 20 into the cleaner frame 10 is identical to that of a conventional up-right type cleaner.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, dismounting the main body 20 from the cleaner frame 10 results in communicating between the dust collector 21 and the flexible hose 49. In contrast, mounting the main body 20 of the vacuum cleaner 1 into the cleaner frame 10 and inclining the cleaner frame 10 results in the fluid communication between the dust collector 21 and the flexible hose 49 being disconnected and fluid communication between the dust collector 21 and the main brush assembly 13 by an air passage formed toward the main brush assembly 13 is opened. Such a structure that varies an air path by inclining of the cleaner frame 10 is well known in the art, and thus will not be described in detail.

In the case of dismounting the main body 20 from the cleaner frame 10 as shown in FIG. 1, a user can pull to move the main body 20 conveniently by slightly inclining it toward a side where the traveling wheel 26 a and 26 b are, after connecting the extending pipe 30 and auxiliary brush assembly 31 to the flexible hose 49 and extending the telescopic handle 26 to agree with his/her stature as shown in FIG. 3. When reaching a place to be cleaned, by standing the main body 20 as shown in FIG. 3, the support member 27 comes in contact with a floor and the main body 20 stands upright. In such state, the user may hold the extending pipe 30 and clean the desired place.

FIG. 4 illustrates a lower surface of a main body 20 of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, two support members 127 a and 127 b are installed. In such a case, a base plate 19 of a cleaner frame 10 is provided with two recess grooves (not shown) in which the two support members 127 a and 127 b can be inserted.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A vacuum cleaner comprising: a main body having a dust collector and a vacuum motor; a cleaner frame in which the main body is detachably mounted; a main brush assembly connected to a lower end of the cleaner frame; and a flexible hose and an auxiliary brush assembly connected to the main body, wherein the main body is further provided with a traveling wheel and a support member, and wherein, when the main body is mounted into the cleaner frame, an upright cleaning operation can be performed by sucking external air into the main brush assembly, and where, when the main body is dismounted from the cleaner frame, the main body can be moved using the traveling wheel and the support member and a canister type cleaning operation can be performed by sucking external air through the auxiliary brush assembly.
 2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the main body further comprises a length adjustable telescopic handle.
 3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the traveling wheel comprises two traveling wheels that are installed at a lower end of the main body.
 4. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 3, wherein the cleaner frame further comprises a base plate for fixing the lower end of the main body and a locking member for locking a side surface of the main body.
 5. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the base plate is formed with a pair of wheel insert grooves in which the two traveling wheel are inserted and a recess groove in which the support member is inserted.
 6. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 5, wherein the support member comprises two support members and wherein the base plate comprises two recess grooves in which the two support members are inserted.
 7. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the cleaner frame further comprises a base plate for fixing a lower end of the main body and a locking member for locking a side surface of the main body.
 8. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 6, wherein the base plate is formed with a wheel insert groove in which the traveling wheel is inserted and a recess groove in which the support member is inserted.
 9. A vacuum cleaner comprising: a main body having a lower end and an auxiliary brush assembly, the lower end including a pair of traveling wheels and at least one support member; and a cleaner frame having a base plate and a main brush assembly, the base plate including a pair of wheel insert grooves and a recess groove, wherein, for an upright cleaning operation external air is drawn into the main brush assembly and the main body is mounted in the cleaner frame on the base plate so that the pair of traveling wheels are received by the pair of wheel insert grooves and the support member is received by the recess groove, and wherein, for a canister type cleaning operation external air is drawn into the auxiliary brush assembly and the main body is dismounted from the cleaner frame so that the main body is movable using the pair of traveling wheels.
 10. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 9, wherein the main body further comprises a length adjustable telescopic handle.
 11. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 9, wherein the cleaner frame further comprises a locking member for locking a side surface of the main body.
 12. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 9, wherein the support member comprises two support members and wherein the base plate comprises two recess grooves in which the two support members are received. 